TAPCIS, (The Access Program for the Compuserve Information Service) was an automated utility that speeded up access to, and management of, CompuServe email accounts and forum memberships for PC users from 1981 until 2004 when advances in CompuServe technology rendered this highly-regarded little DOS-based program obsolete. Written in Borland's Turbo Pascal, TAPCIS[1] was a $79 Shareware program that automated access to CompuServe. At a time when subscribers paid for timed access and had to spend time online reading and replying to messages, the TAPCIS autopilot took its users online with a single keystroke, bypassing the windows interface while it sent all pre-written email and forum postings written offline, received new messages, downloaded requested files, and logged off CompuServe. The program was the chosen tool for dozens of CompuServe System Operators (SYSOPS). TAPCIS was the brainchild of Howard Benner,[2], a marketing executive from Wilmington, Del. Benner joined CompuServe in 1981 and soon after he authored and published TAPCIS. Stricken by melanoma, Benner died in June, 1990, aged 44. However, his software inspired a loyal community of TAP users who today still maintain their own website at http://www.tapcis.com/